Baseball Notebook; At Winter Meetings, Nonwinners to Look for Shot in the Arm

Published: December 6, 1987

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The Yankees, having traded Dan Pasqua, hope to add a left-handed-hitting outfielder to their roster. They have approximately six such players on their shopping list, including Dave Parker of Cincinnati, Fred Lynn of Baltimore and Harold Baines of the Chicago White Sox (keep in mind that the Yankees haven't made a trade with the White Sox since Nov. 13). Mike Davis, a free agent, is another possibility. The Yankees will also spend more time talking to the White Sox about Floyd Bannister, the left-handed pitcher.

Lou Piniella, who will attend his first winter meetings as a general manager, says that a ''shortstop is not a No. 1 priority with us,'' but that doesn't mean he won't continue to investigate the possibility of a trade for one. Clark Testing the Waters

The owners will have a chance this week to offer additional proof that their game of collusion is over. Agents for some of the most glamorous free agents will be in Dallas prepared to talk to teams and make deals.

Tom Reich, a veteran at making deals at the meetings, will be on hand to talk to clubs about Jack Clark. The St. Louis Cardinals had been expected to re-sign Clark relatively easily, but Reich said their talks are at an impasse and he is prepared to move on to other discussions.

Because Clark has missed significant playing time with injuries the past two seasons, the Cardinals want to make a major part of his potential income payable in bonuses based on playing time. That idea isn't so much of a problem apparently, but the maximum Clark could earn, less than $2 million, is.

''He's one of the ranking players in the game,'' Reich said. ''He's the most feared hitter in the game today.''

Reich soon will learn if anyone wants to pay Clark on that basis and, indeed, if anyone will go after him seriously at any price. Strong Rule on Agents

The Players Association executive board met in California last week, concluding with a marathon 14-hour session Thursday. The most significant action the player representatives took was approving regulations under which player agents must now be certified. Before voting approval, they added one stringent rule: No agent may give a prospective client money or anything else of value, such as a car, to induce him to sign with the agent. Where Are Salaries Going? The Players Association also gave the board members the list of average salaries for 1987, which show a decrease in the major-league average for the first time since the union began keeping such records in 1967. The decrease though is only $66, from $412,520 to $412,454, a drop of 16 one-thousandths of 1 percent.

The average salary as computed by the Player Relations Committee, the owners' labor arm, is $402,579.

Besides the difference in the overall average salary, the two sides differ greatly on the Kansas City Royals' average. The players rank the Royals No. 1 at $555,275, the owners No. 11 at $449,940. Dan Quisenberry is responsible for most of the disparity because of his lucrative real-estate deal. The owners value Quisenberry's 1987 income at $1,262,350 while the players' figure, which has not been disclosed, is believed to be more than $2 million higher.

This marks only the third year in the last 10 that the Yankees have not been No. 1 on the players' chart, but it is the second year in a row. Even with Quisenberry's salary, the Yankees could have been No. 1 if Randy Velarde hadn't been left on the team's Aug. 31 roster instead of being moved to a minor-league roster, as the Yankees announced. Velarde earned the minimum salary of $62,500 and brought down the team average. It would have been $557,568 without him.

The Yankees were one of 12 teams whose average salaries decreased from last year. Theirs dropped 12.3 percent. Pittsburgh had the greatest decrease, 46.2 percent, with Atlanta second with a 26.6 percent drop. The Braves fell from first to 10th in the players' salary standings. Last year nine teams had their average salaries decrease.